Fettuccine, In The Manner of Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo is among the simplest, yet tastiest pasta dishes. The ingredients are easily obtained and the procedure can successfully be carried out by even the most cooking-challenged of chefs.
The dish has reached many other countries, and evolved. The Alfredo sauce has become a mixture of cheese, butter, and cream –sometimes milk also added- in the United States.
Fettuccine Alfredo recipe
First invented by the Roman chef after whom the dish is named, it consists of just pasta, parmigiano and butter.
Ingredients
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Procedure
- Boil the fettuccine in salted water until al dente, this is firm, not undercooked, but not too soft. The key is to use enough water to allow the pasta to have space to move around. That allows even heating and a uniform coating of starch that's boiled out of the pasta. Drain, but don't rinse.
- Warm the butter in a large bowl to a little more than room temperature, making it soft and easy to spread. This can be done any number of ways, but one easy method is to add a small amount of water to a ceramic bowl, then microwave. Take care not to overdo it, though. Microwaves can be damaged if the bowl becomes dry and there's no remaining water to heat. Then add room temperature butter to the heated bowl.
- Grate the cheese into fine, small chunks. If the cheese is slightly dry, sprinkle a few drops of the water used to boil the pasta into the bowl with the cheese.
- Drop the still hot pasta over the butter, add the cheese and toss vigorously. Stir until the pasta is well coated with the soft, gooey mixture. Cover and let sit for a couple of minutes.
Cooking Tips
- For a delightful variation, add a teaspoon of garlic powder to the mix and stir in well. For the true iconoclast, substituting a bit of romano cheese for the parmigiano is an option. To spice it up just a bit, sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper into the bowl and work it in.
- For a thicker sauce, simmer butter, garlic powder and two cups of heavy whipping cream in a saucepan for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Other variations include using a bit of cream cheese to thicken the mixture still further. Blue cheese (about four ounces, crumbled) has even been used instead.
- For a lighter sauce, substitute milk for the cream.
- For a seasoning variation, a bit of basil can be added to the mixture.
But remember, for every deviation from the 'vanilla' recipe you're moving farther away from the true, traditional Alfredo style made famous by the chef to celebrities in Rome during the 1950s. But, hey, rules were meant to be broken!
Fetuccine Alfredo fortissimo recipe
Southern Italian dishes tend to be tomato-based and spicy. Northern ones, by contrast, lean toward creamy and buttery. No better example of the difference can be found than a fine Fettuccine Alfredo, the quintessential northern-style dish.
Ironically, the origins of the dish are said to hail from a restaurateur in Rome circa 1920, and Rome is pretty much in the middle of the country, even somewhat more south than north. That's Italy! North, south, or in-between they share recipes like a sailor shares sea stories.
Ingredients
Sauce
1 egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
2 cups fresh Parmesan cheese
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp dried parsley
Procedure
The sauce is the main feature of this creamy dish. To prepare it, pour half the heavy cream into a bowl, then add the egg yolk and mix well. Pour the other half into a skillet, heated to medium-high. Whisk it well as it begins to boil to prevent curdling, then add the cream-yolk mixture. Keep blending until it's all well mixed. Grate fresh Parmesan and sprinkle onto the mixture, then toss in the parsley.
Recipe to make fresh noodles
You can use fresh pasta (a must for the best dishes), or you can make it yourself. If you choose to make it, here's how...
Ingredients
2 cups semolina flour
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
Procedure
- Because it is a mixture of north and south, the fettuccine can be made with both butter (north) and olive oil (south). Just pour a mound of flour into a bowl and make a valley in the center. Add the egg yolks, olive oil, salt, and water, then mix well. Pour on melted butter. Let it rest, covered with a moist towel for about an hour.
- Knead well and roll out flat with a rolling pin, then refrigerate for half an hour.
- Slice the dough into strips about 1/4 inch wide. Once they've had a chance to dry out a little bit, you can dump them into boiling water for about 6-8 minutes. Beware overcooking, since the pasta should be al dente.
- Once finished, drain but don't rinse. The starch helps the sauce stick. Then pour warm Alfredo sauce over them and you're ready for a fine Roman meal.
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